It's been nearly three years since a man threw a Molotov cocktail into Masjid Ibrahim, a mosque in Coachella.

The hate crime shook the Coachella Valley's Muslim community, and left the mosque with hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. But the community has endured and, on Friday morning, more than 200 worshipers marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan and celebrated Eid al-Fitr at the since-repaired mosque.

Community leader Saleh Ahmad Saleh, a Palestinian-American who lives in La Quinta, said the Muslim community has rebounded and is thriving: “Nothing’s changed. We still go and don’t have fear. Everything’s okay. We have some security and the Coachella police helps a lot; there’s cooperation and they care about everybody."

Muslims have been a presence in the Coachella Valley since the early 1980s, Saleh said, and after years of convening in borrowed spaces, the Palm Springs Islamic Society bought a former church in 1998 and opened the area’s only mosque in Coachella. Hundreds of Muslim Coachella Valley residents, who work as doctors, teachers and farmers, attend prayer services for Eid al-Fitr each year.

During Ramadan, Muslims – with the exception of young children and people pregnant, ill or travelling – refrain from eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset. As it is tradition for Jews to fast during Yom Kippur, and for Christians to make sacrifices during Lent, Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan in order to repent for their wrongdoings, reaffirm their values and remind themselves of what they have to be grateful for in life. Charitable giving and community gatherings are central tenets of the holy month.

Each evening once the sun has set, Muslims break their fasts at Iftar, normally by eating a date. The United States exports around $43 million of dates each year, and 95 percent American dates are grown in the Coachella Valley. The region's reputation as a date-cultivating center makes it a special place to celebrate Ramadan, Thermal date farm owner Yahya Omer Mohamed said.

Eid al-Fitr is the final breaking of the fast and officially ends the holy month. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, the holiday’s exact date varies each year. Masjid Ibrahim holds gatherings and prayer services throughout Ramadan, but the Eid is the largest of their celebrations.

Traditions vary among the United States’ 3.45 million Muslims and Coachella Valley Muslim community’s multiculturalism was on clear display Friday morning. The prayer service mixed in English and classical Arabic, with mosque-goers also speaking Spanish, Urdu and a variety of Arabic dialects. Young men wore stylish jeans and Nike high top sneakers alongside older men wearing traditional white abayas. After morning prayers, mosque-goers enjoyed Yemeni sweets, Korma potatoes from Afghanistan as well as some Coachella Valley staples like horchata and pastries from Teddy’s Donuts in Bermuda Dunes.

Although Muslims are a visible, constant presence in the Coachella Valley, the community has been subject to violence in recent years.

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Boys line up for donuts at the Eid al-Fitr celebration at the Islamic Society of Palm Springs, Coachella, Calif., Friday, June 15, 2018.(Photo11: Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun)

Neither incident resulted in any injuries or fatalities, but Dial was ultimately found guilty of a hate crime. The attack caused between $150,000 and $180,000 in damage, Mohammed told The Desert Sun in 2015.

Men line up to eat on Eid al-Fitr at the Islamic Society of Palm Springs, Coachella, Calif., Friday, June 15, 2018.(Photo11: Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun)

In 2017, hate crimes targeting American Muslims rose 15 percent, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, but even though the political climate may have changed, the mood among Coachella Valley Muslims remains consistent, Mohammed said on Friday.

"Muslims are forgiving. That same day we prayed for [Dial's] soul and asked God to forgive him," he explained. "Our hope is that when he comes out, we want to try to get him to understand our religion."

Looking ahead, the Palm Springs Islamic Society hopes to expand Masjid Ibrahim and build a structure adjacent to their current mosque. Since 2016, they've been raising money to build a new mosque next to the current structure. On Thursday, the city of Coachella approved their project permit application, yet the community has only raised $200,000 of the $1.4 million the project requires.

Kids wait during morning prayers at the Islamic Society of Palm Springs on Eid al-Fitr to celebrate the end of a month of Ramadan fasting, Coachella, Calif., Friday, June 15, 2018. Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun